163bhp quattro or 190bhp 2W?

[gadgesxi]

I think I'm getting bored of my car already, whether because its an auto and so un-involving or just not enough power (coming from a 280bhp vxr).

Would people favour a underpowered quattro over a higher powered 2 wheel version of the avant?

Suppose the other option is to simply map mine, but then its still an auto.

 

[Nutkin]

if you are coming from a vxr then you must lovvvveeeee torque steer so go for the 190bhp 2wd

 

[danbaylis]

Remap yours I reckon, as too much power through the fronts wheels is never good IMO.

I've just come from a 1.9TDI SE FWD to a 1.9TDI Quattro Sport and you'd struggle to get me back to a FWD car now. If you did get a remap at least the Quattro system can get the power down whereas a FWD is just going to trash your clutch/tyres/other bits.

It might be different with the petrol engines but from what I've read about the TDI/remapping, the torque is the killer for FWD which is why I've switched to a Quattro.

I'm sure one of the Audi guru's will be along shortly but thats my 5p's worth!

Cheers
Dan

 

[Nutkin]

agreed i killed my leons clutch within 10000miles of big power conversion.

fortunately new clutch was only 400 quid for a stage 1 kit.

 

[BahnStormer77]

if you're not going to remap it and you want "excitement", then 190bhp FWD will be lighter and easier to unstick on the road.

quattro if the smarter choice as it leaves LOTS of options wrt to remapping and tweaking (easilly into the 220bhp+ territory, 300-350bhp if you want to get your hands properly dirty and spend some money on injectors, new turbo, etc - MTM, motec, etc!)... but the car it is a bit heavier and will stick to the road like glue compared to a FWD car... so can feel a bit too solid and "safe" for some people's tastes...

 

[AudiSport]

I think I'm getting bored of my car already, whether because its an auto and so un-involving or just not enough power (coming from a 280bhp vxr).

Would people favour a underpowered quattro over a higher powered 2 wheel version of the avant?

Suppose the other option is to simply map mine, but then its still an auto.

Well, I always went for quattro cars as I loved the feel of the car when driving fast round corners..

I had a 2001 A3 180 Quattro

and then a 2001 TT 225 Quattro

I used to love it when it rained as there was so much more grip pulling away from junctions and traffic lights.. However, I can't be assed with driving like that anymore - wrecking my tyres and clutch.. So, after realizing I don't need a Quattro for my every day drive I bought a 2WD 190 A4 S-line.

What a car! It returns 35+ mpg compared to the 28mpg (at best) my A3 and TT returned and being so much lighter the acceleration is brilliant! There is loads of tourque from the 190 engine and the performance is great. I was owed a favour from my local garage who happened to be a Revo dealer - so I even had mine mapped to around 230bhp which is great! I'm not a fast driver but... Wow what fun!

It is always going to be subjective, but as your asking - I would go 2WD and make sure you get a good spec! I'm actually thinking about selling mine soon..

See:
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=80830

 

[BahnStormer77]

AudiSport's view on this is much the same as a lot of people, however bear in mind that those are not especially fair comparisons: the A3/TT are NOT full Quattro (they're Haldex) - the A4 is permanent (Torsen) Quattro, so feels even more planted mid-corner and/or when rear traction starts to break.

In the TT/A3, you're lugging all that extra running gear around with you without the immediate Quattro benefits that you get in an A4, so there's even less in favour of Quattro on the smaller cars.

If anything I'm even more in favour of a Quattro now after a weekend spent out in the countryside where I had to repeatedly accelerate out of a tiny gravel side-road and UP onto a busy A-road (ferrying people between the cottage and the local train station)... there was a BMW 3-series and an Astra that were both making an utter meal of it each time... no such problem for the Quattro Was even tempted to take the traction control off at one stage to add to the "fun"

All depends what you want: the 2WD will be lighter, so more frugal and more fun, the Quattro will be quicker off the line if the surface is in any way compromised (i.e. damp) and you'll be able to control higher speed in the corners.... so more capable.

Personally? I'd definitely go for the Quattro and then start tweaking as and when I wanted more power - a remap to 180bhp-ish at least (it's the same underlying engine - just with only one intercooler)... but the FWD is still a stunning car, so I'm certainly not going to slate it!

 

[shark_90]

I think I'm getting bored of my car already, whether because its an auto and so un-involving or just not enough power (coming from a 280bhp vxr).

Would people favour a underpowered quattro over a higher powered 2 wheel version of the avant?

Suppose the other option is to simply map mine, but then its still an auto.

I told you to give me a ring when you got bored!

I reckon you can make much better progress in the quattro despite the weight. I know yours is Auto and you can't change that (not easily anyway) and if that's your sticking point then you will need to swap the car. However if you like the auto and just want a bit more power, then map yours. It will cost you less than swapping cars will.

 

[J7USS]

IMO not having a manual gear change would be way to boring for me, after all most of the fun is about the revving it out and gear change to go with it.

 

[Marc1]

What's your view on paddle shift Juss? Considering that on the next one possibly, but not sure if you're still a bit unattached!

 

[BahnStormer77]

What's your view on paddle shift Juss? Considering that on the next one possibly, but not sure if you're still a bit unattached!

hmmm... that should be possible, shouldn't it? Just get the steering wheel upgraded and make sure they get youa paddle-shift version, then vagcom the tiptronic to work off the paddles.... hmmm.... wonder if it's possible.....

 

[J7USS]

What's your view on paddle shift Juss? Considering that on the next one possibly, but not sure if you're still a bit unattached!

Id like the best of both, Manual and Paddle ....but I suppose that aint possible.

Im not really sure to be honest. I popped out earlier to pick something up to eat and had a little play around as you do and I was imagining me just sitting there without the gear change....., Im abit of a figit when it comes to driving you see, the mrs always says that when she's in the car with me and when I drive hers so maybe its just my style of driving....

Paddle shift........if its got an RS6 attatched to it then hey Im all over it Marc.lol

 

[Nutkin]

paddle shift = expensive to repair.

 

[quattrojames]

I've driven a 2.5 with steering wheel tiptronic controls, and it was fun whilst the novelty lasted, but you would soon just give up and leave it in auto, as such it doesn't appeal to me. It didn't offer great control either, if it deemed you were over reving it changed up, if it deemed your revs were too high it would block your downchanges etc - certainly it wasn't you who was in control!

As for the fwd vs quattro argument, I've always been a quattro fan, and this was brought home to me driving home from work in the early hours last night. It was raining heavily, there was a lot of standing water and deep puddles in the road, combined with the amount of leaves having fallen off the trees which had virtually formed a carpet on the road. And the quattro never missed a beat and was as sure-footed as ever, quattro everytime for me :thumbsup:

 

[BahnStormer77]

yep - just been out in the Quattro: bucketing rain, ultra-short on-ramp (30yds from staionary to the main road) for a busy 50mph 3-lane dual carriageway A-road and with the quattro you can just nail it with confidence... did make me think of this thread... with the 1.8T FWD A3 that I'm looking after right now (only 150bhp) the TC just kills it and it seriously struggles to get out of that junction into traffic in anything but done-dry road conditions.

The only other car that I can really compare it to (that I've driven out of that same juction on a regular basis) is my old Mk3 Golf (2 litre GTI engine), that despite the high-lift cams giving it a lot less low end torque (but 150bhp top-end), it used to just spin up out of that junction in the dry and in wet weather it was doing that from a rolling start in 1st and still happening in 2nd: in the A4, I can turn the TC off and the tyres seem incapable of breaking traction even with 40% more power and about 3x the torque! And yes: both the Golf and the A4 were running Toyo Proxes T1-R's.... in fact the first tyres that came on the A4 with my 16" Alloys are the same 205mm width that were on the Golf (albeit at about 60 profile rather than 45)....

 

[stoakseya4]

Defo go for the FWD and tune baby...

If you find you can't keep the power down which I'd be surprised with, but you could also go for a Quaife LSD. Would transform the car even more...

FWD with mild tuning will get c240bhp. I had one like this and FWD is fine...

 

[Marc1]

Paddle shift........if its got an RS6 attatched to it then hey Im all over it Marc.lol

yep, definately with you on that one!